The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is probing a shooting incident by a US
ship that left an Indian fisherman dead and three Indians seriously
injured, an official said.
The US Navy supply ship opened fire
Monday evening on a fishing boat near the mouth of Jebel Ali Port in
Dubai, WAM news agency quoted a UAE foreign ministry official as saying.
Tariq
Ahmed Al Haidan, assistant to UAE foreign minister for political
affairs, said an Indian fisherman was killed and three Indians were
seriously injured.
"The UAE concerned authorities are investigating the shooting incident," he added.The
US military ship fired at the small boat off the UAE coast as the
latter "ignored the warnings and came too close", Xinhua quoted sources
as saying.
The USNS Rappahannock, a fuel re-supply ship, fired
upon the small motor vessel after it disregarded warnings and rapidly
approached the US ship near Jebel Ali, according to a statement of the
US navy's Bahrain-based fifth fleet.
Sailors on the USNS
Rappahannock used a series of non-lethal, pre-planned responses to warn
the vessel's operators to turn away from their "deliberate" approach
before resorting to lethal force, the statement said.
Jebel Ali
port, the largest port in the Middle East, is frequently visited by the
ships of the US navy as a rest port for sailors.
